Toy bank



July 4, 1961 Filed Aug. 21, 1959 H. E. ZOELLER TOY BANK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hugo E. Zoel/er INVENTOR.

July 4, 1961 H. E. ZOELLER 2,990,643

TOY BANK Filed Aug. 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 62a 6 Fig. 7 66 Hugo E. Zoel/er INVENTOR.

BY puma 2,990,643 TOY BANK Hugo E. Zoeller, Box 1559, Springfield, Ill.

. Filed Aug. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 835,262

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 46-3) This invention relates to toys and more particularly to a toy bank.

An object of the invention is to provide an attractive, amusing toy which functions in response to the deposit of a coin in a coin'box of the toy. As the coin is deposited, means are rendered operative to release a latch and enable a spring to eject at least a portion of a figurine upwardly-in a direction to attract the attention of a child. s The upward extent of travel of the figurine or partial figurine is limited by means of the same spring w s I eie s e fi Another object of the invention is to provide an amusement device preferably made as a toy bank, and which may be made very simple in construction but which is attractive and neat and quite appealing to the eye both when at rest and when in use.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a toy bank constructed in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan View of the bank in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a latch bar constituting part of a latch of the toy bank.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view showing the toy bank in the operated position, i.e. just after a coin has been inserted in the coin slot of the bank.

FIGURE 7 is a longitudinal sectional view, parts shown in elevation, of the toy bank in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a partially sectional and partially elevational view showing a modification of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings reference is first made to FIGURES l-8. Toy bank 10 is preferably made of plastic or other lightweight material and is composed of body 12 having a coin receptacle or box 14 and a shell or figurine cavity 18. The coin box is made in the form of an egg cup while the cavity 18 is enclosed by a wall 22 in the shape of an egg with the lower part 24 thereof fitted in the upwardly opening and outwardly flared upper section 26 of the egg cup shaped body. The top part of the body (FIGURE 3) may be made as a separate part from the bottom in order to facilitate manufacture, with the juncture being between parts 24 and 26. A lateral flange 30 extending from the side wall 22 preferably seats on the upper edge of part 26 and is sealed in place, for instance by a plasticizing cement or by some other ordinary plastic securing technique.

Coin slot 34 is formed in a side Wall of the body and is in registry with the coin box 14. An open ended coin guide 36 is attached to the side wall of the coin box and is in registry with slot 34 in order to guide typical coin 38 toward the central axis of the coin box to make sure that latch 40 will be released each time that a coin is inserted in the coin box. In order to remove the coins from the coin box, there is a door 42 mounted in an United Sttes Pate-t swinging latch 48 carried by door 42 and having an angular inner part 50, releasably holds door 42 in a closed position. In order to operate the latch 48 a screwdriver is required to be fitted in the screw kerf at the lower part of the latch 48 whereby the latch may be rotated until the angulated part 50 thereof clears the inner surface of the bottom wall 46 of the coin box, whence door 42 may be moved to the open position.

An open ended tube 54 is mounted in an opening 56 in the bottom wall 19 of cavity 18. It is held firmly in place by cementing or other standard fastening means. Latch bar or plunger 58 is mounted within the open ended tube 56 and has a hook or shoulder 60 near its lower end. .The upper end of the latch bar has a figurine 62 fixed thereto and located within cavity 18. The lower end of latch bar 58, including shoulder 60 is lo, cated in the coin box 14. Although various selections of figurines may be made, it is preferred that the figurine be in the form of a baby chick to be commensurate with the egg and egg cup motif.

A spring 66 is concentrically mounted on latch bar 58 and has one end anchored as at 69 to figurine 62 (FIG- URE 7). The anchorage is made by simply fitting one end of spring 66 in a cavity in the figurine. The lower end of the spring is secured to a laterally projecting pin 70 attached to the side Wall of tube 54. Spring 66 functions to quickly elevate the figurine in response to release of latch 40.

As illustrated best in FIGURE 7, there is an opening 74 at the top of cavity 18. This opening is irregular in its outline separating the top part of the smooth egg shaped wall 22 from the lower part thereof. A small section 78 of wall 22 is made integral with or otherwise secured to the top of the figurine 62 and functions as a closure for the opening 74. Consequently, section 78 elevates simultaneously with the figurine 62 so that the appearance of the toy bank is of a chick breaking through an egg shell, each time that a coin is deposited in the coin slot 34.

It was stated that the section 78 of the wall 22 may be otherwise secured to the figurine. By this is meant numerous fastening means may be resorted to in this connection, one of which is shown in FIGURE 9. The wall 22a in the embodiment of FIGURE 9 has a movable section 78a attached to figurine 62a by means of a screw 80. Other fastening expedients may be resorted to without departing from the invention.

Latch 40 is made of latch bar 58 and a notch 59 in the side wall of tube 56. Shoulder 60 engages the upper wall of notch 59 and thereby holds the latch bar 58 depressed as shown in FIGURE 3, under the loading of spring 66. When a coin 38 is pushed into coin slot 34 it is guided by guide 36 to have the edge thereof abut the lower part of latch bar 58. This pushes the latch bar toward the longitudinal central axis of tube 54 or at least, a distance sutficient to disengage shoulder 60 from the upper wall of notch 59. As soon as this happens spring 66 extends thereby promptly pushing the latch bar 58, figurine 62 and wall section 78 upwardly. To restore the figurine 62 and wall section 78 to the lowered position as shown in FIGURE 3, the wall section 78 is simply pushed downwardly. In order for the edges of the wall section and opening 74 to match, the latch bar 58 will be tilted properly, i.e. a sutficient amount so tslgat shoulder 60 again engages the upper edge of notch The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and de- Patented July '4, rest scribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A novelty toy bank comprising a receptacle representing an egg cup and having a slot therein for the insertion of a coin, a shell representing an egg fixed in the top portion of said receptacle and having an irregularly shaped opening in its upper portion, a vertical tube in the lower portion of the shell extending downwardly into the receptacle, a laterally rockable plunger extending through the tube, a figurine representing a chick on the upper end of said plunger, a coil spring encircling the plunger and operatively connected to the figurine for projecting same upwardly through the opening, a hook on the lower end of the plunger engageable beneath the lower end of the tube for releasably anchoring the figurine in retracted position against the tension of the spring and engageable by a coin being inserted for disengagement thereby from the tube for releasing the figurine, and a complementally shaped closure for the opening fixed on the figurine and seatable in said opening for closing the shell and engaging the hook with the tube.

2. A novelty toy bank including a receptacle having a coin slot therein, a shell mounted on the upper portion of the receptacle and having an opening in its upper portion, a vertical tube in the shell having communication with the receptacle, a plunger loosely mounted in said tube, a figurine on the upper end portion of the plunger, resilient means yieldingly urging said figurine upwardly through the opening, a hook on the plunger engageable with the tube for releasably anchoring the figurine in retracted position and operable by a coin entering through the slot for disengagement thereby from said tube, and a closure on the figurine seatable in the opening for closing the shell and engaging the hook with the tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 209,038 Gerard Oct. 15, 1878 608,794 Quinn Aug. 9, 1898 685,345 Perkins et a1. Oct. 29, 1901 739,942 Stewart Sept. 29, 1903 1,311,949 Cooper Aug. 5, 1919 

